Imatges de pàgina
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by coach, from Birmingham or Stratford-on-Avon, there being coach communication daily between these two towns.) This small market town is first mentioned in records of the time of Henry II., but its name, compounded of the British words Hen, old, and Ley, a place, would seem to indicate an origin of considerable antiquity. Arden was the appellation of the great forest which covered this part of the country. This town is interesting as possessing one of the few market crosses that have escaped the ravages of the religious zeal of the times of the English reformation. The base, shaft, and capital consist of three separate stones, the shaft being morticed into the other two. In the base there are three ranges of kneeling places; and the capital contains four niches with sculptured reliefs. Three of these pieces of sculpture represent the Rood, the Trinity, and St. Peter; the fourth is too much mutilated to be known. The church is of the time of Edward III., and has undergone little alteration since the time of its erection.

BEAUDESERT, a small village probably so named from its pleasant position, is about one mile distant from Henleyin-Arden. It was the site of a strong castle erected by Thurstane de Montfort, shortly after the Conquest, but completely destroyed in the wars of the Roses. The church has some interesting remains of early Norman architecture. Near Beaudesert was born, in 1715, Richard Jago, the author of "Edge Hill," and other poems. Jago was vicar of Snitterfield, near Stratford-on-Avon, where he died in 1781. He was an intimate friend of Shenstone, to whom several of his poems are dedicated. "Edge Hill" is a somewhat heavy poem, in blank verse, descriptive of the scenery of Warwickshire, as viewed from Edge Hill, on the southern boundary of the county. Some of his shorter poems display more power. We quote a few lines as a specimen. The following is an apostrophe to Shakspere, from "Edge Hill".

"Hail, mighty bard!

Thou great magician, hail! Thy piercing thought,
Unaided, saw each movement of the mind,

As skilful artists view the small machine,
The secret springs and nice dependencies,
And to thy mimic scenes, by fancy wrought
To such a wondrous shape, the impassioned breast
In floods of grief or peals of laughter bowed,
Obedient to the wonder-working strain,
Like the tuned string responsive to the touch,
Or, to the wizard's charm, the passive storm,
Humour and wit, the tragic pomp, or phrase
Familiar, flowed spontaneous from thy tongue,

As flowers from Nature's lap.-Thy potent spells
From their bright seats aerial sprites detained,
Or from their unseen haunts, and slumbering shades,
Awaked the fairy tribes, with jocund step
The circled green and leafy hall to tread:
While, from his dripping caves, old Avon sent
His willing naiads to their harmless rout."

Among Jago's shorter poems, the "Fable of Labour and Genius " and the " "Elegies" are deservedly admired. He

wrote a "Roundelay " for the Jubilee at Stratford-on-Avon, in 1769.

This part of the county has given birth to another poet. At Edston Grange, in the parish of Wooton Wawen, William Somervile, author of "The Chace," was born in 1692. His family was one of the most ancient and respected in the county. He was a skilful sportsman, and a useful justice of the peace, as well as a man of letters. His death, which took place in 1742, was hastened by habits of intoxication, to which he gave way in consequence of the embarrassments resulting from his extravagance. Alluding to this, his friend Shenstone,* who very much resembled him, remarks indignantly, " For a man of high spirit, conscious of having (at least in one production) generally pleased the world, to be plagued and threatened by wretches that are low in every sense; to be forced to drink himself into pains of the body, in order to get rid of the pains of the mind, is a misery." Somervile holds a somewhat higher place among the minor British poets than Jago. Johnson remarks that he "has tried many modes of poetry; and though perhaps he has not in any reached such excellence as to excite much envy, it may commonly be said, at least, that 'he writes very well for a gentleman.' His serious pieces are sometimes elevated, and his trifles are sometimes elegant." His tales in general exhibit much coarseness. We quote a few lines from "The Chace," as a specimen of Somervile's poetry. They are part of his description of fox-hunting, the hounds being in full cry:—

"Heavens! what melodious strains! how beat our hearts
Big with tumultuous joy! The loaded gales
Breathe harmony: and as the tempest drives
From wood to wood, through every dark recess
The forest thunders, and the mountains shake.
The chorus swells; less various, and less sweet,
The thrilling notes, when in those very groves
The feathered choristers salute the spring,

* Shenstone shewed his respect for Somervile, by erecting to his memory a monumental urn, in his grounds at the Leasowes.

And every bush in concert joins; or when
The master's hand, in modulated air,
Bids the loud organ breathe, and all the powers
Of music in one instrument combine,

An universal minstrelsy. And now

In vain each earth he tries, the doors are barred
Impregnable, nor is the covert safe;

He pants for purer air. Hark! what loud shouts
Re-echo through the groves! he breaks away;

Shrill horns proclaim his flight. Each straggling hound
Strains o'er the lawn to reach the distant pack;
'Tis triumph all and joy."

CHESTERTON and OFFCHURCH BURY may be visited in the course of one pleasant excursion. Chesterton is six miles from Warwick, to the south-east. At a distance of three miles from Warwick, the tourist passes Bishop's Tachbrook, a small retired village, with a church containing some fine monuments, and exhibiting traces of Norman_architecture. Chesterton is interesting from its remains of a Roman Camp. It is square in form, and of considerable extent, and is situated on the Roman Foss-way, which is here plainly marked. Gibson remarks that the Roman origin of this fortification is evident from three circumstances:- "First, the name of the place, which plainly comes from the Roman castrum; secondly, its nearness to the Roman Foss, upon which it is certain that, at convenient distances, places of entertainment were built for the reception of the armies on their march; the third token is, that in the compass within which the Roman building is supposed to have stood, several old Roman coins have been dug up." The scenery here is of a peaceful and pleasing kind.

"The wide champaign, and the cheerful downs

Claim notice; chiefly thine, Ŏ Chesterton!
Pre-eminent. Nor 'scape the roving eye
Thy solemn wood, and Roman vestiges,
Encampment green, or military road,

Amusive to the grave historic mind."-Jago.

Chesterton was the seat of the powerful family of Peyto in the time of Edward III., and through several successive generations. The last and most famous personage of this family was Peter de Peyto, who was created a cardinal in the reign of Henry VIII., to whose daughter Mary, afterwards Queen of England, he was confessor. In the reign of Mary, being appointed the Pope's Legate, in place of the famous Cardinal Pole, who had come under the displeasure of the Pontiff, he was refused permission to enter the country in that capacity; when he retired to France, where he died. The manor house, which was built in the reign of Edward IV., and had impor

tant additions made to it, about the year 1630, under the directions of the celebrated Inigo Jones, was taken down-it does not appear for what reason-by Lord Willoughby de Broke, in 1802. The village church is an antique structure. It contains three fine monuments of the Peyto family; the principal one being an altar tomb, with the recumbent figures of Sir Humphrey Peyto and his Lady, the knight being habited in armour, and the lady in the fashion of the time. In the reign of Henry V., John Lucy, vicar of this parish, afforded an asylum to Lord Cobham, one of the most noted followers of Wickliffe. For this offence, and for heresy, he was tried and condemned; but, through the exertions of his friends, he obtained the royal pardon.

On a hill near the village stands a large stone windmill, which will be viewed with interest. It was erected in 1632 by Sir Edward Peyto, after a design by Inigo Jones. It is circular in form, and supported by six arches with pilaster capitals. The Roman Foss-way, proceeding in a northerly direction, crosses the London Road at a distance of two miles from Chesterton. Following the main London Road for about a mile in the direction of Leamington, to the village of Radford Semeley, a country road to the right conducts to

OFFCHURCH BURY. The small and picturesque village of Offchurch is said to derive its name from Offa, a king of the Mercians, who had a residence here. At the dissolution it was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Edmund Knightley, in whose family the manor has remained ever since, till, by the marriage of Miss Knightley, the last representative, with Lord Guernsey, it came into the possession of that nobleman. Offchurch Bury is a fine old Gothic mansion, in the style of various periods, the earliest portions belonging to the time of Henry VIII. It is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Leam, and is surrounded by a park and grounds which harmonize well with its imposing and venerable appearance. The park contains some fine sheets of water, and a number of noble trees. A majestic chestnut tree, in particular, which stands before the Gothic porch of the mansion, is an object of general admiration. Its spreading branches are capable of sheltering at least three hundred persons.

The

pleasure grounds are very tastefully laid out. The village church is pleasantly situated on an eminence. Adjoining it is the parsonage-house, a picturesque residence, with its grounds charmingly laid out. Fine views may be obtained from various points, particularly from the churchyard.

44

STRATFORD-ON-AVON.

HOTELS.-Red Horse, John Gardiner-Bed 1s. to 2s., breakfast 1s. 6d. to 2s., dinner 3s., tea 1s. 6d., attendance optional, charge for lights. Shakspere, Ann Hitchman, and

White Lion, John Warden.

Population in 1851, 3372. Inhabited houses, 694.

From Warwick, 8 miles; from Leamington, 103; from London, 94; from Birmingham 22. Stratford can be reached by coach from Birmingham, Warwick, or Leamington; it possesses no railway communication with the north, unless by a circuitous route.

Is situated on the south-west border of the county, on a gentle ascent from the classic Avon. It derived its name from its position on the great highway from London to Birmingham and Holyhead; stræte or stret being the Saxon word for a road, and ford evidently referring to the passage through the Avon parallel to the bridge. Three centuries before the Conquest, a monastery existed here under St. Egwin, afterwards Bishop of Worcester. Under the care of the Bishops of Worcester, Stratford remained till 1549, when it was made over to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, in exchange for some lands in Worcestershire. When that nobleman was beheaded for high treason, the manor of Stratford fell to the crown. Ultimately it was conferred by Charles II. on Charles, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, in whose family the manor, and the patronage of the vicarage, still remain. Stratford was incorporated by charter in 1553. During the Parliamentary Wars, a conflict of an unimportant character took place in the neighbourhood of this town, in which Lord Brooke put the royalists to flight. About an hour after the Parliamentarians had taken possession of Stratford, the Town Hall was blown up, while Lord Brooke and his officers were proceeding thither to hold a council of war. The royalists soon returned in great strength, and entered the town in triumph, with Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., at their head. During her stay in Stratford, the queen resided at New Place, the former abode of Shakspere, and the home, at this time, of Shakspere's grand-daughter. There is nothing further deserving of particular notice in the

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